Sen. Lieberman said Sunday that he does not agree with a new hard-hitting ad released as part of friend's 2010 re-election bid. (Photo Credit: CNN)

Washington (CNN) – Sometimes election year politics can drive a bit of a wedge between the closest of political allies. In this case, Sen. John McCain’s first foray into 2010 campaign advertising is rubbing his longtime ally the wrong way.

In a new radio ad released Thursday, McCain takes on the record deficit spending by the Obama administration, which has defended it as an effort to pull the country out of the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression.

"President Obama is leading an extreme, left-wing crusade to bankrupt America," McCain says in the new ad, I stand in his way every day.”

Asked about McCain’s new ad Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, Sen. Joe Lieberman said “You know, every now and then, John McCain and I disagree.”

“I don’t agree with that,” Lieberman added referring to McCain’s attack on Obama for record federal spending in the last year. “I think that the president understands the importance of bringing our government back into balance. Look, he came in at a most difficult economic time, inheriting a national debt that had doubled in the preceding eight years.”

Lieberman also told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King that he thought Obama might mention “some tough medicine for our economy” during his first State of the Union address expected next month. “We need it and I hope there’ll be bipartisan support in Congress for doing that,” Lieberman said of the fiscal belt-tightening some observers expect Obama to push for in the second year of his presidency.

McCain, appearing side-by-side with Lieberman Sunday while the two senators are on an overseas Congressional visit, defended his hard-hitting ad against Obama.

“The president promised that he would stop the wasteful spending. He has not vetoed these pork barrel bills. We have increased the debt and deficit dramatically,” McCain told King.

“The spending is out of control and it’s not been brought under control,” the Arizona Republican also said Sunday. “And that’s what I’m fighting because we’ve laid a debt on our children and grandchildren that is unconscionable.”

soundoff(260 Responses)

McCain and Lieberman... I would call these two clowns Abbott and Costello but that would be an insult to Bud and Lou!

January 10, 2010 11:47 am at 11:47 am |

Larry

McCain's corruption in Washington goes back to the Keating 5 bailout of the 80's. I hope the people of Arizona have finally wised up about him and vote him out of office.

Obama inherited an economy in shambles left by the incompetent Bush administration.

January 10, 2010 11:47 am at 11:47 am |

MC, Ann Arbor, MI

Funny, McCain. Where were you when you fellow "fiscal conservative" George W. took the debt from $5 Trillion to $10 Trillion and initiated TARP for his bankster friends. Give me a break.

January 10, 2010 11:48 am at 11:48 am |

Judith

These 2 are just like a broken record. No matter how many times you play it the sound will still be the same. Time to throw it away.

January 10, 2010 11:48 am at 11:48 am |

Dem TIl death

While I respect Senator McCain's military service, Iam appalled by his and the Republican's party total disloyalty to the American people. Remember the Family Leave Act. Those bastards were against that much less any type of health care reform. There is going to be a middle class revolt soon and I assure you it will be directed at Tea Bagging,Carpet Bagging Republicans.

January 10, 2010 11:49 am at 11:49 am |

Adam

Once McCain endorsed the disasterous bailout bill #1/100...I knew he was full of shiite. Ypu'll also notice that up until that very announcement...it was a virtual tie in all the polls. McCain shows his true colors? His support evaporated instantly...and rightly so.

EVERYONE that was for that bill was and is corrupt to the very bottom of their souls. The power they gave away in that bill was nation changing in scope...and FAR too few opposed. Now because of that bill we have a money god that answers to NOBODY AT ALL. He CANNOT be held accountable in ANY way whatsoever by anyone for any actions he does. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE doubt me and double check this for yourself. This power without accountability was the scariest part of the bailout bill by far as it's a direct transfer of power from the people to the bankers.

This was not a hidden sentence somewhere on page 9,754 of a bill. Everyone that voted for that bill KNEW flat out that they were transferring power.

Go ahead do a bit of background on our current money god and tell me what stands out. Where was Money God Geithner while all of these mega-banks made all of these horrible choices? Oh that's right he worked for them in senior management roles. Been working "both" sides of the coin for awhile now.

Make no mistake...the New World Order is slavery.

January 10, 2010 11:49 am at 11:49 am |

BJs65

McPain is a sore loser. Get over yourself you old dog.

January 10, 2010 11:49 am at 11:49 am |

Ms. M

If I had my choice to help my fellow American or bomb other countries and pay to rebuild them, I would pick help my fellow Americans and try a more diplomatic approach to foreign policies. I am talking about the hard working Americans who get up and go to work every day just like me. Wake up people, government spending will always be BIG. It is big under the Republicans. They choose to spend large amounts of our tax dollars on priorities that are typically different from the Democrates. The Demos usually support more broad domestic policies. I see no problem with putting policies in place that will focus on positioning ALL Americans, especially hard working ones and the 'truely' diabled ones not the ones that only seek to take advantage of welfare and other programs. The big change should focus on putting all able minded Americans to work even the lazy ones!!!

January 10, 2010 11:49 am at 11:49 am |

Observer

Lieberman and McCain = Dumb and Dumber

January 10, 2010 11:49 am at 11:49 am |

Ren from Baltimore

McCain and Lieberman-the Republicans should have let these two run as Pres and VP candidates on the same ticket. That would have shown the US that Bush was merely a precursor to what would have been sure doom.

For these two to parade themselves as American-spirited servants is beyond the pale, even for today's politicians. I don't know which one is worse for us-at least Lieberman would put us all to sleep before killing us with his inanity and backstabbing.

January 10, 2010 11:50 am at 11:50 am |

leftisloony

check out california ( NY and ILLINOIS are soon to follow) people.....a failed bankrupt state whose unions and liberal policies are sinking it into the ocean way before any quake would......we need leaders like McCain who will stand up and call out obama's leftist pollicies that are leading us ALL over a cliff before its too late.......

January 10, 2010 11:50 am at 11:50 am |

Ray E.

We have a 12 Trillion Dollar Debt, and it may be 20 trillion before the next election. How much longer before the whole system collapses and unemployment goes from 10 percent (Official) more like 17 percent (Actual) to maybe 50 percent.

Everyone is going to pay for continued lack of any Fiscal responsibility. If you think you can beat the system, think again. And look up Aesop's Fable about the Goose that laid the Golden Egg.

The Federal Government has no business in business. of any kind.

January 10, 2010 11:51 am at 11:51 am |

GI Joe

LIEberman campaigning to retain his chairmanship - about to be booted and replaced by a true Democrat. Both of his faces are on display every day now.

Of the $11 trillion nation debt, $8 trillion was irresponsible spending by Conservative Republican administrations. They chose to borrow in good times when we SHOULD have been paying down the debt. At the end of his term, Clinton had paid back .5 trillion of the money his administration had borrowed.

The last fiscally responsible Republican administration was Richard Nixon's. The last capable Republican president was Gerald Ford. The last progressive Republican Administration was Teddy Roosevelt.

Google it.

January 10, 2010 11:52 am at 11:52 am |

Betty in Arizona

Go away old blood and let new blood, younger minds, outside the WA beltway enter. It is time for all the OLD white men to RETIRE. They have done enough damage to this country. Let the younger generation try new ideas, and show the old guys how to work together. I will not be voting for McCain, and Liberman can not decide which side of any given issue he is on. He will change parties again to get elected, and the people of Conn just keep putting him in a chair.

January 10, 2010 11:52 am at 11:52 am |

Sparky

"I’m entertained and sometimes a little angry when I see this constant, vicious attacks by people on the left. I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years that I’ve been in politics, the viciousness and the personalization of the attacks on Sarah Palin."
- John McCain–

"The reason Chelsea Clinton is so ugly is because Janet Reno is her father."
- John McCain, launching a slur against a child to make a crowd laugh

Yeah, Thank GOD for John McCain and oh will we vote this year

"we"? He Beanner you got a mouse in your pocket?

January 10, 2010 11:54 am at 11:54 am |

FactCheck

Are Republicans even relevant anymore? The Democratic party have become the party of centrist and the soon-to-be defunct Republican party has become the party of religious wing-nuts, birthers and vapid former beauty queens.

January 10, 2010 11:54 am at 11:54 am |

Ron

Julie: I think you have your tenses mixed up. The country is not going in the wrong direction. It went in the wrong direction and now we are having to bite the bullet and clean up the mess.

January 10, 2010 11:54 am at 11:54 am |

Albo58

Whether you agree with the motives or not, the fact is this President has outspent every President before him. Furthermore, most of the spending has been applied to political paybacks and entitlement programs (and I'm not even counting the unmitigated disaster that is his health care bill!). Make no mistake, this President is a politician of the first order and do note that his actions NEVER match his shallow words!

January 10, 2010 11:54 am at 11:54 am |

Adam from Ohio

For crap's sake, CNN ... enough with the "SLAMS" and "BLASTS" headlines. If anything, Lieberman gently disagreed with the ad. But "Lieberman gently disagrees with McCain's ad when prompted" isn't a headline that gets people to click a link, is it?

January 10, 2010 11:55 am at 11:55 am |

Inigo montoya

Wow, that was one heckuva "slam".

Stop trying to manufacture news. Whoever selected the language for your headline needs a refresher course on ethics. What a laughable distortion.

January 10, 2010 11:55 am at 11:55 am |

michael armstrong sr. TX.

When will people pull there heads out of there butt's and clamp down on what really bought our country to it's knees it was the oil company's and refineries gouging America out of work our government caused this by being cowards to big oil.

January 10, 2010 11:56 am at 11:56 am |

Steve

Where is this "extreme, left-wing" agenda the Republicans keep talking about? Obama's policies so far have been a little bit left of center in my opinion. Why all of the criticism of being a socialist, a communist, a left-wing extremist, etc.? The Republicans always cite expansion of government and deficit as a fault of leftist policy. How convenient they always forget that the government exploded in size and debt under George W. Bush. It's time to stop all of the criticizing of the President and start trying to offer alternatives if your ideas are so much better.

January 10, 2010 11:57 am at 11:57 am |

Future expat

"President Obama is leading an extreme, left-wing crusade to bankrupt America,"

That makes no sense. ZERO. No politician, left or right- hell, no one in their right mind- would seek to bankrupt their country.

Ask yourself, WHY would he want to bankrupt America? We know why Cheney and Bush did what they did: to funnel taxpayer dollars to themselves and their friends (Enron, Halliburton, etc.) via no-bid contracts. But how on earth would Barack Obama benefit by bankrupting America?

But this doesn't surprise me. McCain showed his true, ugly colors during 2008.